Brick Memorial’s Kaity Lash was supposed to spend her 17th birthday taking her road test in order to earn her driver’s license.

But last week’s snowstorm interfered, meaning the junior had to put off her exam until next week as her Ocean County team, No. 2 in The Star-Ledger Top 20, had its trip to the NJSIAA team championships pushed to yesterday.

In the end, Lash gladly traded a few extra days on her learner’s permit for a state championship.

After capturing the Group 4 title in convincing fashion, Brick Memorial swept its way to the first Tournament of Champions title in school history at Brunswick Zone Carolier Lanes in North Brunswick.

“It was totally worth it,” Lash said. “Absolutely.”

Brick Memorial quickly defeated No. 10 Cardinal McCarrick in the TOC semifinals, winning 3-1 on Baker format games, then knocked off No. 3 Manchester Township, the defending TOC champion, in three games in the finals.

“Your heart’s pounding with every single ball that’s thrown for seven hours,” Brick Memorial coach David Thompson said. “This season has worked out where with each passing week and each passing month, my girls have jelled more, worked together more and succeeded more.”

Manchester had advanced to meet Brick Memorial in the finals after a stunning semifinals upset of No. 1 Brick, which entered the day as a strong favorite to win its second TOC crown in three seasons.

After dropping the first game to Brick by 51 pins, Manchester fought back for a 204-204 tie in the second. Manchester then won the next two games before Brick tied the five games, 2-2-1, with a victory in the fifth game.

That sent the semifinals to an overtime of sorts and a sixth game to decide who would move on to face Brick Memorial, by that time well done with its semifinal and now a spectator.

Manchester took the sixth game, 215-182, and headed into the finals with a head of steam, as opposed to Brick Memorial, which had spent a good while idle. But Thompson was not concerned about his team’s layoff.

“I knew my girls had practiced in-between (the rounds),” Thompson said. “I would have much rather had the layoff than to have been a part of that craziness that was going on. Holy cow.”

And as it turned out, Brick Memorial was not affected in the slightest, cruising to the title in three games from there.

“We were ready,” Lash said. “This is amazing.”

The Group 4 title Brick Memorial won to qualify for the TOC was its second in history. Brick Memorial had a meet-high 3,127 pins in the group portion, garnering it the top seed in the TOC.

Manchester captured the Group 2 crown, its fifth straight, with 2,816 pins. Brick was the Group 3 champion for the sixth consecutive time with 3,023 pins, while Group 1’s Cardinal McCarrick won its second straight group crown with 2,595 pins.